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A SURVEY OF PRESENT AND POSSIB LE FUTURE SHEEP AND W OOL HA NDLI NG PRACTICES
OF
NORTH ISL AND FARMERS RUNNING CROSSBRED SHEEP
by
MALCO LM ED WARD SMI TH
A thesis submi t ted in parti al fulfilment o f the requirements
for the degree of
MAS TER OF AGRICULTURAL S CI ENCE of
MASSEY UNIVERSI TY Oc tober 1 967
AU TOBIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF THE AU THOR
The author was born at Dannev i rke on 27th Oc tob er 1 94 1 . He att ended the Matamau coun try school from 1 946 to 1 954 . From 1 955 to 1 959 he at tended Dannevirke High School leaving after a ye ar in the U pper S ixth form . U ntil 1 9 59 he lived with his paren ts on a Dairy farm and spent most of the school holi days working on i t .
Towards the end o f 1 959 the author was ac c epted as a Rural Fie l d Cadet to s tudy for a Bachelor of Agricultur al S c ience degree . The author e nrolled at the then Mas sey Agricultural Colle ge in 1 960 and graduated B . Ag . S c . in 1 965 . This period o f s tudy was broken in 1 9 6 1 for a year of prac t i c al work on she e p and dairy f arm s at
Has tings and Reporoa . Further training under the R . F. C . scheme was obtained on a cro pping farm at Hawarden in the summer of 1 962-63
and during a period of in- service training in the Ro torua offic e of the Departme n t of Agri c ul ture during the summer of 1 963-64 .
In Nove mb er 1 964 the author was appointed to the She ep and Wool S e c tion of the Farm Advis ory Divi s i o n . The author gaine d a S tudy Award which enabled him t o study for a Wool and Woo l c l assing Diploma at Massey . Prior to c omm enc ing the Dimploma c ours e 14 weeks of r e quired prac tical work were comple ted at a W ool S tore i n Napier .
The course was c om ple ted in 1 96 5 and the author was awarde d a Wool and W oolclas s ing Diplom a in 1 966 .
In 1 965 the author applied f or a bursary to enab l e him to study
for a M . Ag. S c . degre e . His applic ation was approved on th e understanding that the thesis topic would be conc erned wi th a d e term ination of the technic al knowledge of , and prac tice s us ed by N or th Island farm ers running c rossbr ed flocks when attem pting to
ii
improve the produc t iv i ty o f the animals in their flo cks .
From Oc tober 1 965 to April 1 966 was spent in c arrying out a survey to gain information for the thesis topic. From April
From to Nov ember 1 966 was spent on c ourse work and examinations .
December 1 966 to August 1 967 was spent in wri ting computer
programmes , analysing data , and wri ting th is thesis. Two courses each l as ting a fortnigh t in May 1 966 and May 1 967 were attended by the author . The s e c ours e s each las ting a for tnigh t in May 1 966 and May 1 967 were attende d by the author . These c ourses were for Shee p and Wool Ins truc tors and were primarily designed to increas e
their knowledge of animal bree ding . The author undertook an evaluation of the progress made by those at tending e ach course .
In February 1 966 the author married Allison J e an An derson o f Dannevirke and in J uly 1 967 a son was added t o the family.
ACKNO WLED GEME N TS
The author wi shes to express his appreci ati o n t o all of the people who have, in one way or anoth er, c ontri buted to the pre sentation o f thi s repor t.
H e p arti c ular ly wi shes t o expre ss appreci ati o n to Mr. A.H. Hughes f o r the gui danc e and c ouns el gi ven througho ut the
org ani s ation, development and presentati on of this thesi s.
Sinc ere than ks are ex tende d to Pro f. A.L. R ae, D r . T.S. Ch' ang and Mr . T.A. Meek for their helpful sugg e s ti on s and gui danc e an d Mr. W.G. Fayne, M iss N. Gordon an d Mr. L . Thomas
for th ei r assi s t anc e in the wri ti ng of c omputer prog rammes.
H e is very grat e ful to the Departmen t of Agri cul tur e for fi nanci al assis tance enabling him to carry out thi s study.
Thanks are al so due to the S taff o f the Massey Univ ersi t y Library and Photographi c Uni t and the D epartme nt o f Agri c ul ture typi ng s t aff .
The author i s also very appreci ative to the c o nsideration and assi stance given in many ways by hi s wi fe , Alli s on .
iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS
LI S T O F TABLES
LI S T OF ILLUS TRATI ONS CH APTER I
II
III
I NTROD UCTI ON Pre face
S t atement o f the Prob l em O b j e c tives
The Need of the S tudy Pro c e dures Used
D e fini tion of Terms
REVIEW OF LITERATURE Introduction
Sheep and � o o l I mprov ement Techniques H i s tory of Ex tension of Sheep and Wool
Improvement Prac t i c e s Farm Surveys
Types of Survey
M e th o d of D ata Collec t io n D e s igning t h e Quest ionn aire
S ummary and Conclusions Hypotheses
METHODS
I n troduc tion The Ques t ionnaire
·s ampling
Contac ting the Farmer I n terviewing
Analys is
vii vii
1 1 2 3 3 3 9
10 10 10
1 6 2 3 2 3 2 5 26 26 2 7
29 2 9 33 34 34 35 35
IV
V
B IBL IOGRAPHY
APPEND ICES I I I I I I
I V
V
RESULTS
Introd u c t ion
Contac t and Reception Intervi e w ing
Que s ti onnaire
SU MMA RY AND CONCLU S IONS Introd uc tion
Sample
Contac t and Reception Intervi e wing
Q u e s tionn aire Rec ommend at ions
Q ues tionnaire S ched ule
Report on the �ork of Sheep and Wool Ins tructors
Evaluation of Sheep and Wool
Ins truc tors In-Service Training Cours e
Condens e d Vers ion o f Some B asic Principles of Que stionnair e
D e s ign and the Reasons for the s e Princi ples
Some Computer Programmes Used in Tabu lat ing D ata
vi
37 37 37 38 38
6 8 68 68 68 68 69 82
84
viii xix
xxxiii
xxxix xliii
LIS T OF TAB LES
Table Page
I D i s tanc e from Ameniti e s 39
I I Ob j e c tives o f S e l e c tion
Bre eding Farms
50
III Ob j e c tives o f S el e ction :
Fat L amb Farms
54
IV Knowle dge of W oo l Terms
59
V Age vs Formal Educ ation of
Farmer 62
ILLUS T R AT ION
Loc at ions o f Farmers Interviewe d